Signs of the Times

"Just as the Scriptures prophesied, we are reaching the point where there is a breaking up of earthly nations into warring kingdoms. Plowshares are being made into swords, and soon we shall have Armageddon . . . The time is approaching for Christ to return to this earth and set up His Kingdom." So spoke Elder William Henry Branson, at the quadrennial meeting of the World Conference of Seventh Day Adventists which elected him president last week in San Francisco.

Under a globe-shaped clock stopped at 5 minutes to 12, some 850 delegates from 68 countries and more than 4,000 other members of the church kept things moving at a fast pace, in keeping with Adventist belief that the end of the world is just around the corner. San Francisco hardly knew they were there; after each session the austere, nondrinking, non-smoking Adventists faded quietly into their small hotels and motels.

Seventh Day Adventism is a flame that caught during the great blaze of evangelism which swept through the U.S. in the middle of the last century. To many of the "saved," the prophetic passages of the Bible took on a new importance, and here & there the conviction sprang up that the time for Christ's return was close at hand. The Seventh Day Adventists, so-called because they celebrated the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday), set no date for the second coming, and they avoided a set creed. But Adventists adhere to a strict code: no unnecessary work on the Sabbath, no bearing arms (though they will serve in noncombat branches in wartime), and plenty of fervent evangelizing.

Last week's conventioneers had some optimistic statistics: a membership growth of 61% since 1936 (from 438,139 to 716,544); current assets that include 162 medical units, 290 colleges and secondary schools, 3,341 elementary schools and 52 publishing houses.

In his acceptance speech President Branson told fellow delegates: "The signs of the times tell us that the prophecies of Scripture have practically run out. I want every department of our work to be . streamlined . . ."

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